QUIKRETE
Play Sand
???
There was a playsand that was sold at Home Depot and I think it came from the Carribean, but not sold anymore. I would not use it.
[quote=“houndsbayman, post:2, topic:2587”]
There was a playsand that was sold at Home Depot and I think it came from the Carribean, but not sold anymore. I would not use it.[/quote]
john, u mean u wouldn’t use the quikrete? do i understand u right??
paul, i would not use the quickrete.
thanks. won’t do it
The quickrete sand that is Tan to brown is not good to use as it usually has a lot of junk in the mix. The sand everyone was using was color scape from kmart (playsand)
I have used play sand that was bright white from kmart and had no issues although it said not for use in aquariums
The sand that Home Depot used to sell was called Southdown/Oldcastle/Yardright described as Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean (not for aquarium use... they added to keep us from wanting it but completely usable, and it in fact was the EXACT same product Caribsea sells now.
I forget all the details but Caribsea used to sell it at Home Depot for concrete use and sand box play sand as silicate sand was abrasive to kids. There was legal issues at the end when word got out it was the same sand they sold to reef aquarist’s for $40 per 5lb bag but sold from home depot for $5 per 50LBS!!! and aquarist’s bought it up like candy, so they discontinued it at home depot. What they carry now is quartz silicate sand and aside from the silica in it i’d not use it as they coat the piles of the outdoor sand in a light oil to keep it from blowing away in the wind.
paul the fish bowl has very nice white sand in 2 size bags. i used good old crushed coral mixed with white sand and lewes sand. the beach sand was boiled and rinsed…if i ever do another tank it will be 10 % crushed coral 90 % white sand
Paul if your using it for the main tank wouldn’t suggest it , if your doing some kind of remote sand bed go to toys r us the play sand they have is still a silica base but it’s cleaned and sifted and real small grain. Glenn I used some of the sand from the beach also but for the remote sand bed worked pretty nice. The south down sand a home depot or lowes is long gone sadly.
The silica leaching from sand is an old wive’s tale. It is quartz sand, chemically inert. It does not have a white color though, as previously stated. And as far as coating the sand in a light oil to keep it from blowing away, I’ve never heard of a quarry doing that. I worked for Oldcastle Materials in their Delaware operation and there is no such practice. I bought the reef grade white from FishBowl and would use it again.
so much info is pretty daunting. so a mix of sands from fbowl souynds like the way to go.
[quote=“billrob71, post:9, topic:2587”]
The south down sand a home depot or lowes is long gone sadly.[/quote]
Not all gone. I have a brand new bag in the basement. 
jon, wanna get rid of it? lmk
Sorry man. Been saving it for years. Waiting for the day I can set up a pretty display tank. At one point Shawn had some, but I think he gave it to Andy and he used it in his 90g. Got mine from Ken.
no probs. thanks.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:12, topic:2587”]
[quote=“billrob71, post:9, topic:2587”]
The south down sand a home depot or lowes is long gone sadly.[/quote]
Not all gone. I have a brand new bag in the basement. :-D[/quote]
i’ll try to find the statement written by the southdown owner/spokesman, but he released a notice specifically stating that they were adding 10% silica and coating the outdoor piles in a light oil to detur aquariests from using the product.
HA! found this while searching!!! LOL
“November 8, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Eddie McKissick, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, and Jesus Torres, Special Agent in Charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce-based aquarium supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty and were sentenced in federal District Court on November 7, 2006, in connection with the illegal importation of more than 42,000 pounds of protected coral rock from Haiti to the United States. Both defendants were charged in connection with a shipment that arrived in March 2006, contrary to the laws of the United States and an international treaty intended to protect threatened and endangered species of wildlife, all in violation of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373.
United States District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke accepted the guilty pleas of the two defendants and proceeded to immediate sentencing. Carib Sea, Inc. was sentenced to a three year period of court-supervised probation and ordered to make a $25,000 community service payment to the South Florida National Park Trust to assist in funding and enhancing the existing Coral Nursery Program in Biscayne National Park.
Richard Greenfield was also placed on three years probation, and ordered to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $25,000. Additionally, the defendants were held jointly liable for storage and transportation costs exceeding $10,000 which related to the March 2006 seizure and approximately 40,000 pounds of coral rock found and seized by the government at the company’s business location. The defendants are also obligated to publish a notice in three publications related to the aquarium trade, explaining their violation of law and the applicable requirements of CITES and U.S. regulations.
The coral rock involved in this matter, with a market value of approximately $75,000, is being transferred to a non-profit research institution, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, to avoid its use in commerce.
According to the Information filed in this matter and a statement of facts presented in Court, in March 2006, the defendants were involved in the importation of a cargo-container load of coral rock from Haiti. Under a convention known as “CITES,†the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, more than 150 countries have banded together to provide protection to a variety of species in danger of imminent extinction, or which may become so, if trade in their specimens is not carefully regulated. That protection extends to all coral rock, which is an invertebrate within the phylum coelenterate. To legally import such specimens into the United States, the importer must, among other requirements, obtain and present to the Fish & Wildlife Service a valid foreign export permit from the country of origin, or if the country of origin is not a CITES member, such as Haiti, a corresponding document described in U.S. regulations. Neither of the defendants, or their Haitian supplier, possessed or presented the appropriate documentation for the coral in this case at the time of importation
Coral reef destruction has been the subject of intense debate at the meetings of the parties to CITES. Loss of reef habitat, which is one of the most productive and diverse ecosystems, is a world-wide concern. As nurseries for marine species of commercial value, as well as a source of income from recreational fishing and eco-tourists, and a protective barrier for coastlines, a significant effort is underway to preserve the existing reef structures and reverse their decline.
Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of the Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Immigration & Customs Enforcement, which brought the matter to a successful conclusion. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at Southern District of Florida | Department of Justice. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney’s Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.”
WOW!! what synchronicity!!. that explains why the stuff isnot available any more.
i forget the entire story, but a guy named Rockey (Scubadude on reefland.com) saw and followed a barge of aragonite sand to a dock and asked to buy some, turns out it was Caribsea’s delivery and he shoveled 2 TONS of it into the back of his pickup truck for $39…
here is the pic he took… i wish i could get 2 tons for $40 
Yeah there is some shady stuff that happens on this planet. On the island I stay on for a month no sand, rock, or shells were to be exported from the island. That being said truck locks of rock were for some reason moving around the island the entire time we were there. There was also a large amount of sand being harvested. All on the side of the island the tourist never visit. Almost wanted to investigate further and figure out exactly what was going on. Suppose at the time I wanted to either see the wildlife or have another drink more then I wanted to save the planet.